In an air jet loom a weft yarn not required to be picked for the time being can be stopped or retained by means of a yarn stopper and its free end maintained stretched in the picking nozzle by means of a retaining air flow. Weft yarn can be stopped by a separate stopper or by means of a finger stopper on the particular yarn store concerned.
In the production of multicolored cloth one weft color may not have to be picked for a long time and may therefore be damaged by the retaining air flow during this time. Occasionally the weft yarn end portion in the nozzle may be untwisted or disassociated by the retaining air flow. Also, the yarn clamp or finger stopper may leave marks on the yarn end. These tendencies toward deterioration of the weft yarns held in readiness for later insertion into the shed of an air jet multicolor loom are threats to the maintenance of high quality in the fabric being woven. The damaged end portion of a weft yarn would, in the conventional weaving method, result in a defect in the edge zone of the cloth at the side of the loom opposite the picking nozzle.